“Is Emma with you?”
“Yes.”
“Is she hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you hurt?”
“My face. And soup spilled on me.”
“What happened to your face?”
Sarah looked at Linda.
“She slapped me.”
Across the room, Melissa whispered, “Oh my God.”
Not because she had suddenly discovered what had happened.
Because now someone outside the family knew.
Michael’s next words were almost unnervingly calm.
“Do not leave yet.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Sarah, hang up.”
She stared at him.
Her father heard.
“Is Daniel telling you to hang up?”
“Yes.”
Michael exhaled.
“Put me on speaker.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Sarah tapped the icon.
Her father’s voice filled the dining room.
“Daniel.”
Nobody moved.
Daniel answered quietly.
“Michael.”
“Did your mother strike my daughter?”
“It’s not that simple.”
Michael paused.
“That was not the question.”
Daniel looked toward Linda.
Linda whispered, “Don't answer him.”
Sarah stared.
Even now.
Michael heard that too.
“Linda.”
She stiffened.
“You know better than to tell him that.”
Linda stepped toward the phone.
“This is a family disagreement.”
Michael replied, “You put your hand on my daughter.”
“She provoked me.”
Sarah’s father became quiet.
When he spoke again, he sounded almost gentle.
“That was the wrong answer.”
Linda’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t dictate what happens in my house.”
Silence.
Then Michael said something Sarah did not understand.
“Linda, you and I both know it has not been your house for seven years.”
No one breathed.
Sarah stared at the phone.
“What?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Linda’s face turned white.
Michael continued.
“Sarah, stay where you are. Police and paramedics are already on their way.”
Linda snapped, “You called police?”
“No.”
Michael’s voice remained calm.
“I called the security company that monitors the property after Sarah said she was assaulted inside it. They notified emergency services according to protocol.”
Sarah stared at Daniel.
“Security company?”
Daniel’s expression said everything before he spoke.
Sarah whispered:
“What does he mean, it isn’t her house?”
Daniel looked toward his mother.
“Not now.”
That answer hurt almost as much as the first one.
Sarah’s father said through speaker, “Sweetheart, there are things I should have told you years ago.”
Sarah felt as if the floor had shifted beneath her.
“What things?”
Michael hesitated.
“I will explain when I get there.”
Linda grabbed her own phone.
“You’re not coming here.”
Michael answered:
“I’m already twenty minutes away.”
Linda’s eyes widened.
Sarah turned.
“Why were you coming here?”
Another pause.
“I was supposed to speak with Daniel tomorrow.”
Sarah looked at her husband.
“About what?”
Daniel’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
And that was when Sarah realized Christmas Eve had not broken one secret.
It had broken the seal on several.
Police arrived before Michael did.
Two officers.
One female paramedic team.